That's all from the BBC Africa Live page this week. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.  

A reminder of our African proverb of the day: 

Click here to send in your African proverbs.  

And we leave you with one of our top pictures of the week, of men blowing horns during the inauguration ceremony of Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo in the capital, Accra: 

Image source, EPA

A Kenyan-based company has launched a brand of emoji stickers "for Africa". 

Tech companies like Facebook have been diversifying their emoji collection but critics say the stickers are not rich in diversity.

A description of Afro Stickers, available for download on the Apple app store, says that it offers "diverse facial features and a range of food and travel stickers."

Goat farming in Zambia is set to grow with huge demand coming from Saudi Arabia.

The BBC's Kennedy Gondwe talks to farmers and local businesses about the impact of foreign export to the local market: 

Stanley Kwenda
BBC Africa

Image source, AFP

Ghana's Jeffrey Schlupp has left English Premier League Champions, Leicester City, for Crystal Palace, his club has announced.

The 24-year-old, who joined Leicester as an 11 year-old, was part of the history-making Foxes' side which won the premier league last year.

Schlupp made 149 first team appearances since 2011, scoring 15 goals in the process but intense competition for positions at the club saw him struggling for game time in recent months. 

He becomes Crystal Palace’s new manager Sam Allardyce’s first signing.

Sudan has welcomed a US decision to lift some economic sanctions in force since 1997 as a "positive and important" development in relations between the two states, the AFP new agency reports.

The decision to lift the sanctions was the "natural result of joint efforts and long and frank discussions", foreign ministry spokesman Ghariballah Khidir added in a statement, it reports. 

Mr  Khidir said that President Omar al-Bashir's government was "determined to pursue its cooperation with the US until Sudan is removed from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism".   

See earlier posts for more details

Nigerian Omolara Irurhe, 62, gave birth to her first child two years ago through IVF after 30 years of marriage. 

She told BBC Focus on Africa's Veronique Edwards how life has changed for her:

Opinion is divided on the BBC Africa Facebook page, external about our story of a Somali town banning lavish weddings so that it becomes cheaper and easier for young people to marry.

The district commissioner of Beled Hawa told the BBC that the new ordinance limits the number of goats to be slaughtered to three and bans reception parties.  

Spending limits of $600 (£500) on furnishings for a couple's new home and up to $150 on a bride price have also been set. 

Here are a sample of your comments: 

South Africa knows it has a huge problem with drink-driving and is considering some tough measures to tackle it.

Over the festive season, more than 1,700 people were killed in road accidents, a slight increase on last year, and close to 6,000 motorists were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.  

The government is considering raising the legal age of drinking to 21 but will this fix the problem?

Mozambique has banned raw timber exports in a bid to boost investment and jobs in its woodworking sector.

Opinion is, however, divided. Some local businesses are worried about the short-term challenges while others welcome the ban: 

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has tweeted that he has held talks with The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh to end the crisis over his refusal to accept defeat in elections and to step down when his term ends next week:  

Before the meeting, Mr Buhari said that "only God knows" if Mr Jammeh would step down, AFP news agency reports. 

Mr Jammeh has been demanding a new election, run by a "God-fearing" election commision following hi shock defeat at the hands of opposition leader Adama Barrow in the 1 December poll.  

Mr Jammeh first seized power in  a coup in 1994.

Read: Six reasons why Jammeh lost

Relatives of Rwanda's late king-in-exile, Kigeli V, have rejected a move by his chief courtier to hand his crown to the monarch's nephew, Emmanuel Bushayija, who lives in the UK city of Manchester, Reuters news agency reports.

It adds that a spokesman for the family, Pastor Ezra Mpyisi called him a pretender: 

King Kigeli V died in October and was flown to Rwanda this week after a US court overruled his reported wishes not to be buried there. 

He was deposed in 1961 after just two years on the throne, when Rwanda became a republic after getting independence from Belgium in 1962. 

Few people outside his ancestral home of Nyanza province know much about the late monarch, the report says. 

He had spent more than six decades in the US, living in relative obscurity and running a charity for refugees from Rwanda. 

Listen to this audio about his life: 

Image source, AFP

Sudan will not benefit immediately from the US trade and investment sanctions that President Barack Obama has eased, the Associated Press news agency reports.

This is because the outgoing president has built in a six-month waiting period before the benefits for Sudan go into effect. 

Different US agencies would have to confirm to the Donald Trump-controlled White House by 12 July that Sudan was taking positive steps before the sanctions would be eased, AP reports. 

New York-based camapaign  group Human Rights group condemned Mr Obama's move to ease sanctions as "inexplicable".

Sudan's government was still committing war crimes and against humanity, it alleged.

In a letter to Congress, Mr Obama said there had been a "marked reduction in offensive military activity, culminating in a pledge to maintain a cessation of hostilities in conflict areas in Sudan, and steps toward the improvement of humanitarian access throughout Sudan, as well as cooperation with the United States on addressing regional conflicts and the threat of terrorism".

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

Police in Uganda have rearrested the Rwenzururu King Charles Mumbere, hours after a court released him on bail, reports say. 

It is unclear why the police have detained him again.    

He was first arrested on 27 November on charges of treason and murder after clashes between royal guards and security forces left more than 60 people dead.

(see earlier report)

Image source, AFP

Tanzania's President John Magufuli has warned newspapers that their "days were numbered" after he accused some of them of inciting dissent, the Reuters news agency reports. 

Speaking at a rally in the north-western town of Shinyanga, he said: 

He accused two newspapers, which he did not name, of seeking to cause trouble:

Government officials said he was probably referring to an English and Swhaili daily which have published some articles critical of government policies.

Mr Magufuli signed a law in November which journalists said was aimed at muzzling the press.

The Media Services Act gives officials powers to shut down media organisations that violate their licences by confiscating printing machines.

In December, Tanzanian police arrested the co-founder of whistle-blowing site Jamii Forums after he refused to hand over details of people who post on the site to.  

Read: Tanzania's 'Bulldozer' president

The African Union will stop recognising Yahya Jammeh as The Gambia's president from 19 January, when his term expires, its peace and security council has said. 

It warned The Gambian strongmanof serious consequences if his actions caused the "loss of innocent lives'' and it uerged the security forces to exercise restraint.  

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is in The Gambia in the latest attempt to persuade Mr Jammeh to hand power to property developer Adama Barrow, who defeated the strongman in elections on 1 December. 

A BBC producer is tweeting from The Gambia's capital, Banju: 

Four suicide bombers have killed 15 people in a crowded market in Nigeria's north-eastern town of Madagali, a police spokesman is quoted by Reuters news agency is saying. 

Militant Islamist group Boko Haram is active in the region, but police have not said whether it is responsible or the blasts. 

 President Barack Obama has signed an executive order easing but not eliminating sanctions against Sudan, the White House says, the Associated Press news agency is reporting. 

Reuters news agency quotes the executive order as saying that the lifting of the sanctions will be delayed by 180 days in a move "intended to encourage the Government of Sudan to sustain its efforts" over the past six months on human rights and terrorism.

Image source, AFP

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

* Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says that Turkish troops will not be withdrawn from northern Cyprus, as part of any deal to reunify the island. 

* Renault has become the latest car manufacturer to be investigated over whether it has tried to cheat emissions tests. 

* Iraqi armed forces have made more advances against the Islamic State group in the city of Mosul. 

* Protest rallies have been held in southern India in support of a traditional annual bull-taming festival that's been banned by the Supreme Court.

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent

A 68-year-old father of eight who was kidnapped for ransom by a militia in Libya's capital, Tripoli, has been rescued by another militia. 

Mustafa Sorreya was kidnapped from his shop in broad daylight in central Libya on Monday, and the case drew a lot of attention on social media because it was captured on a security camera outside his shop. 

Mr Sorreya's son, Oussama, told me that his father was in good condition - he had been "verbally intimidated" but not assaulted.

He added: 

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

A court in Uganda has given bail to King Charles Mumbere, who was arrested on 27 November on charges of treason and murder. 

The court, in the eastern  town of Jinja, ruled that he cannot return to his Rwenzururu Kingdom in western Uganda, and cannot go abroad, pending the outcome of his trial.

The king was arrested after clashes between royal guards and security forces left more than 60 people dead.

The authorities accuse of him of trying to stage a rebellion to secede from Uganda. King Mumbere also has followers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The king denies any involvement in violence. 

Read: Why a palace lies in ruins

Image source, Reuters